University of Northern Colorado men’s basketball defeats South Dakota at Sanford Pentagon Showcase

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — The University of Northern Colorado men's basketball team was far from its best on Saturday night, but being good enough at the right time enabled the Bears to a 63-62 victory over the University of South Dakota in the Sanford Pentagon Showcase.

The victory, UNC's third straight, improves the Bears to 4-2 while USD is 5-2.

The teams traded free throws in the final minute, and two from Jonah Radebaugh and two from Andre Spight with 6 seconds left sealed the victory for the Bears.

A desperation shot by USD's Triston Simpson at the buzzer was off the mark.

"We had to match their toughness," UNC coach Jeff Linder said in his postgame radio interview. "Give credit … South Dakota would be a top three team in the Big Sky (Conference), and they're picked to win the Summit League."

The Coyotes enjoyed slim leads late in the second half and went up 51-46 on free throws by Tyler Hagedorn, but free throws from UNC's Jordan Davis (23 points), pulled the Bears within three.

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A 3-pointer by Bear Andre Spight (28 points, 5 3-pointers) pulled the Bears within one at 52-51 with 4:35 left. Spight drained another howitzer with 2:00 left that tied it at 57.

After a tip-in by Roberto Vercellino to tie it at 59 with 1:35 left, the Bears relied on free throws from Radebaugh and Spight to offset a 15-footer by USD's Matt Mooney in the final minute.

The Bears limited USD to 31.3 percent shooting from the field, but they shot just 35.6 percent from the field.

"I challenge Andre Spight every day to be a better defender," Linder said. "He stepped in when Jonah got two fouls and did a great job on (Matt) Mooney.

"At the end of the day, you have to have good guards to win games … you have to have good players that can make good shots," Linder added.

Spight and Davis combined for 51 points for the Bears while Simpson led the Coyotes with 18. Hagedorn added 12 and Mooney had 12 despite shooting 4 for 21 from the field.

The Bears will have less than 15 hours to regroup and play Southern Mississippi at 9:30 this morning which will be their third game in three days.

"It'll speak to the maturity of our team and the maturity of our program," Linder said. "It won't be easy to wake up at 7:30 for a pregame meal, and then turn around and play at (9:30)."